


Beowulf's Adventures- from the Sidelines`

by Bibimbonk



Category: Beowulf (Poem)
Genre: F/M, M/M, follows the poem, genderless reader, idk how to tag please be kind to me, nonbinary reader, not nsfw but kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 17:04:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20763881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bibimbonk/pseuds/Bibimbonk
Summary: You grew up with Beowulf and had some fun, but now you're both older and he invites you to go with him to save a king. What'll happen?





	Beowulf's Adventures- from the Sidelines`

**Author's Note:**

> This could have gone for much longer so consider yourself lucky  
Also don’t think too much it’s all exactly as you read it if you think something is ya know kinda something something it probably is ;-)  
I wrote this for my 12th grade english class

Chapter 1  
The Bees 

“Sire, please be careful!” you called after Beowulf, “they’ll blame me if you get hurt!”  
“I won’t let them!” Beowulf yelled back. 

It was an early autumn morning and he had you chasing him through the gardens for reasons that he refused to divulge. You guessed that he had found something interesting, but what could have gotten him so excited that he just HAD to wake you before dawn.

Just as you were about to give up your chase, you crashed into Beowulf’s stupidly broad shoulders.

“He-!” 

You yelled, but hardly any sound came out as Beowulf covered your mouth.

“Shhh, you’ll wake them,” he whispered. 

You looked up and found that he brought you deep into the woods, and not only were you in the middle of nowhere, you were also surrounded by at least ten beehives. You looked in terror from the hives to Beowulf and back to the hives. If it wasn’t for his stupid grin, and the fact that he was the king’s nephew, you would’ve punched him to the ground. But alas you were better than your violent urges and held back from pummeling his majesty into the next century.

“Is this what you wanted to show me!” you whisper screamed at him, “Why would you want to show me this?! What in God’s name is wrong with you, you crazy ofe!” 

“What you don’t like it?” he asked sincerely.

“Here this is cool,” he said as he reached into the nearest hive and pulled out the largest bee you had ever seen in your life.

“This is the queen!” he said excitedly.  
But almost immediately after explaining this very interesting fact he was surrounded by a swarm of bees. 

With the queen still in his grasps, he began swatting at the bees trying to defend himself. But they continued their relentless attack, stinging his cheeks and eyes as well as yourself, till he made the realization and let go of their queen. Bartholomew son of Ben, was the last to sting young Beowulf, it was the sting that ended the battle, as well as his own life. He knew that leaving his wife and children was hard but he was a knight of the queen and it was an honor to die for such a cause. After the queen flew back into the safety of the hive, the rest of the swarm followed.

You ran to your friend, who was now lying on the ground and held his head in your hands. His face was uneven and inflated from the stings, and he resembled something quite like a raw ham. But you could not say something like that at a time like this. You picked him up and slung him over your shoulder, he groaned in response, but it was his own fault. 

You ran back home and called for your mother once you got inside, upon seeing the shape you and the king's nephew were in she instructed you to lie him on your dining table. You did as you were told and got out of the way as your mother began rummaging through the cabinets, grabbing balms and herbs and throwing them into a mortar. After she finished the mix she smeared it all over Beowulf’s face, the swelling immediately began to go down, and you audibly sighed in relief. 

“Hm fnngndsn”, he attempted to reassure you that he was fine, but with the severity of the stings you could hardly understand him. Yet you still found it funny, how your best friend looked like a ham and couldn’t utter a single coherent word. You laughed to yourself a little, but once you started you couldn’t stop and you found yourself and Beowulf rolling in laughter on the floor.

It was an eventful morning. 

Chapter 2  
The Grendels

*time skip*  
Beowulf allowed you to come along on this adventure, but only to assist and heal him and his men if it was needed. You were excited, it was your first time away from home and you were with your best friend, you only hoped that you could be of assistance to them. 

Your ship had just made it to the Danish shore when you were greeted by a man on a horse, he called himself the coast guard. He had a whole spiel that he did before he let Beowulf explain why you were at his port, and yet after hearing your reasons he still continued to dissuade you. But Beowulf didn’t listen and the coast guard guided you on towards the Hall Heorot. 

It was a long walk to the hall and by the time you could see it you were drenched in sweat. Once you actually reached the Great Hall you were welcomed by the King Hrothgar and his queen Wealhtheow, who then lead you into the hall for a feast.

The queen was the most beautiful woman you had ever seen, she had curls that shined gold like honey and her cloak as dark and blue as a winter’s dusk. She was gorgeous and radiated goodness like a bold glowing sun.  
Beowulf took notice of your staring and whispered low into your ear, “dibs”  
“SON OF A BITCH” you yelled at him, causing a ruckus and gaining Unferth’s longing gaze, he was hot for evil, you could tell just from the way he picked at and ate his nasty boils.You scowled at him and he visibly spasmed in pleasure, you were even more disgusted by him now.

Soon came the night and everyone fell into a slumber in the great hall, everyone but you and Beowulf. You wanted to be awake if he needed assistance but you were feeling quite tired from the days travel and maybe had a bit too much mead from the feast. 

Beowulf took notice of this and told you to go sleep in the quarters that the king and queen had prepared. But you didn’t listen and instead went to the throne and sat there waiting for evil to pass through the doors of the hall.  
You fell asleep on the throne.

Cheering woke you from your rest. When you opened your eyes Beowulf was being hoisted on shoulders while Grendel’s arm hung from the rafters. You had slept through the whole fight without waking once. 

You were slightly disappointed since you missed Beowulf’s rippling muscles against Grendel’s slime, but you were still happy that Beowulf won and Hrothgar’s people were free from Grendel’s terror. Though you did wonder how such a terrible creature came to be, did he simply appear or was he a product of another horror.

There was another feast after Grendel’s defeat, you still worried that it wasn’t over, but you enjoyed the mead and the company. On the other hand, Unferth was groveling in the corner, mourning for his idol, Grendel. You truly could not understand such filth but Beowulf understood and pitied him.

Later that night while everyone slept Grendel’s Mother came and ravaged the Hall Heorot once more like her son, but this time she took Unferth with her. 

You woke in a cold sweat, you a terrible feeling that something happened in the hall again. Turning over quickly, you shook Beowulf awake from the under the skins you shared. He woke with a start and instinctively reached for his sword, instead grabbing yours from underneath the animal hide you shared. You looked at each other awkwardly through the dark you didn’t know what to do in this situation. Not knowing what to do in the situation, you both fell back to sleep, awkwardly, under your own separate skins. You could still feel his square-tipped fingers...

You woke once again, but this time you were the one being shook awake. By the beautiful queen…. But she looked scared. You looked around the hall to see as to why and you noticed Grendel’s arm was missing. 

A knot began to form in your stomach and your heart fell out of your ass. You knew something happened, you should have checked instead of just falling back to sleep. 

“What a fool you are! Look what you’ve done now, you could’ve prevented this,” you thought.

“Don’t blame yourself,” Beowulf whispered into your ear. “I am at fault as well, my good friend.”

Later that evening Beowulf went to fight Grendel’s Mother in the fen. He had said that if he didn’t come back with the span of two days and two nights that he would be dead. Most people left once nightfall came, but you could not leave your best friend by himself like that. He could come back at any moment and you needed to be prepared to aid him. 

So you stayed for two days and two nights.

Chapter 3  
An Unbreakable Bond

You were worried, it was the second night and he was not back yet, you did not want to believe he was dead. But he could not predict the future so you waited through the night. You were exhausted, you didn’t sleep that night from the rain and the boiling of the fen. 

At dawn the king and his men came back to the fen, they chatted amongst themselves, mostly about how your best friend was dead.  
Just then, with a loud shout, Beowulf burst through the fiery scum at the pool’s top.  
He held Grendel's head up high.  
His men were too astonished to raise a cheer. Some fell on their knees and offered thanks to god. But they cheered enough when they had helped the weary Beowulf from the water.  
You ran to your friend's side and wiped away the blood and gunk from his face. Beowulf pressed your hand to his face, the feeling of another non-evil being brought him back to his sanity and grounded him. He missed home, he was ready to leave. 

The night that Beowulf came back from the fen he kept complaining of a toothache. Annoyed with his incessant whining you put together a concoction that would ease his pain as well as put him to sleep, he needed rest. You slipped it into his mead at the end of the night and he was asleep within a few minutes.

You woke early the next morning to pack your things, while you threw your salves and scrolls into your satchel a raven perched on a branch near you. It sang a song as lovely as a headache but you still enjoyed it. You turned back to your packing, letting Beowulf sleep and the bird sing.

You were startled when you heard Beowulf from behind you.  
Beowulf smiled and gazed to the east where dawn was in the wind. “Sing on, raven,” he said. “Welcome morning as you can. You sound like my toothache, but welcome’s no worse for that.”  
Strange to tell, the raven now managed three ascending notes of great purity. Then it shook its wings as though casting off night forever, took a couple of awkward steps, and flew away. At once, all the other birds began to sing. Beowulf touched his jaw in wonder. His toothache was gone.


End file.
